


The Dark Queen

by Swen_23



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/F, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-10
Updated: 2020-10-10
Packaged: 2021-03-08 02:21:44
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,083
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26757931
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Swen_23/pseuds/Swen_23
Summary: What the hell? That's all Emma could think as she stared at the dagger with 'Regina Mills' engraved into it. She couldn't lose Regina, she loved her so much and had never so much as shown a hint of it to her, at least intentionally. The moment before Regina is swept away by the darkness, Emma knows this isn't one sided. So now, the Savior must save her Queen if it is the last thing she does.
Relationships: Evil Queen | Regina Mills/Emma Swan
Comments: 4
Kudos: 31
Collections: Swan Queen Supernova V: Forever Starstruck





	The Dark Queen

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [dark one regina has... wings](https://archiveofourown.org/works/26228884) by [DitchingNarnia](https://archiveofourown.org/users/DitchingNarnia/pseuds/DitchingNarnia). 



As the dagger hit the ground, so did Emma's heart. Her best friend and co-parent had made the heroic choice and taken the darkness back from her, which in her mind was asinine until her mind registered what Regina said before disappearing.

"I can handle this Emma but you are the inky person who can save me. Don't give up on me," Regina spoke with tears staining her cheeks, her stresses displaying a myriad of emotions that made Emma's heart yearn, "keep my dagger close, trust no one else, tell Henry that I love him, and… just find me Emma."

"Always," Emma says right before Regina disappeared with a sad smile. 

Nobody fought when Emma picked up the dagger and tucked it into her jacket, and nobody followed her when she just turned around and headed to Mifflin Street without a word. Taking the spare key from under the mat, am I unlocked a large white door to immediately hear the footsteps of her son running down the stairs. 

"Ma?" Henry said confused, "Where is mom?"

"Henry, we tried to contain the darkness of the dagger but it got out and attached itself to your mom," Emma replied with tears forming in her eyes, "I tried to take it, I could handle it I know I could, but she took it back and...I'm so sorry Henry "

Emma slid to the foyer floor hysterical as Henry quickly processed her words and sat to console her.

"It's okay ma, she knew what she was doing," Henry spoke softly to calm his birth mother, "She knows you will save her."

"Hen... I need to tell you something else," Emma said, wiping her tears and putting on her best face, "I'm in love with your mom, I think it happened as Neverland or maybe even before that as far back as the mines. The point is, I think she loves me too but in order to know for sure I have to find and save her from the darkness, which will happen if it's the last thing I do." 

Henry grinned before pulling Emma into a soul soothing hug. 

"I know you will Ma, and I have kind of known you two are in love since, well, forever. As long as you two are happy so am I, especially if it means no forest boy or captain guyliner." 

"Hey! You can't use our nicknames, get your own," Emma said with a smirk, ruffling Henry's hair in the process, "you are an amazing kid Henry and I don't know what I would do without you. I'm going to stay here tonight, it's less... everything really." 

"I get it Ma and plus we need to stick together because I'm the truest believer and you have the dagger," Henry said nonchalantly, looking up at Emma whose jaw had dropped, "come on Ma I'm not stupid, she wouldn't trust anyone else with it." 

"I'll make my way up to a guest room in a little bit, you should go back to bed," Emma said to Henry, directing his feet towards the stairs. 

"Good night Ma," Henry chuckled as he began to climb the stairs. 

Emma poured herself a glass of cider and sat in the study staring at the dagger, she pondered every moment up until now when she could have, no should have told Regina that she loved her. She laughed to herself when she thought of a Dark Regina with scales, that could never be the look for the Evil Queen. She sighed and finished her drink before heading upstairs, when she reached the landing she paused, unsure as to where she should sleep. 

Yes, the guest room was appropriate and if Robin had somehow made his way to the mansion and wanted to stay, then she would have slept in a guest room with no qualms. However, that was not the case that night, everything had changed, so Emma slowly entered Regina's room hoping there was no random alarm. 

The light from the window illuminated Regina's bed, the purple satin sheets looking like a safe haven to Emma at that moment. She took in where everything was as she walked towards the bed, she could smell apples and the light hint of cinnamon emanating throughout the room which partially made up the scent that was Regina's. She stripped down to her tank, bra, and underwear and climbed into the bed, placing the dagger under the pillow next to her head. 

Eyes closed, searching for a moment of sleep, Emma began to subconsciously talk to Regina. 

"Gina, I don't know what you want me to do right now but I'm taking a minute because I know you would say "magic is emotion" and I need to be in control of my emotions before I can attempt to save you," Emma said, laying on her back with blond hair splayed across the pillow, "I mean at least I would have known what to do if it was the other way around." 

Emma sighed, she didn't want to summon Regina because she respected her more than that, and how was she supposed to stay normal around Dark One Regina when she could barely control herself around everyday Regina. 

"Maybe you could pop up for breakfast tomorrow, maybe if I knew we were on the same page after that moment then I could handle this better," Emma said as her eyelids drooped lower and she was slowly taken to the heaven of Dreamland. 

She dreamt of Regina laying by her side, exploring the depths of their love with her words and highly-skilled fingers, not to mention the power that burst from her chest when their mouths met. 

In the process of waking up, she considered what being Regina's true love meant and although it probably should provoke hesitation there was no doubt in her heart or mind that being with Regina and being her true love would be irony at its best and what she thought to be her most unlikely dream come true. 

The sound of laughter from downstairs when Emma woke caused her to shoot up in bed, quickly finding her clothes and making her way to the noise. 

She did not want to get her hopes up by expecting to see Regina when she walked into the kitchen but she definitely wasn't prepared for what she saw. She at least expected to see Snow or maybe even Violet sitting at the table with Henry, joking about everything to keep his mind occupied. 

However, sitting on the counter facing away from her, laughing as though she hadn't just been sucked into the darkest vortex in existence the previous night, was Regina. 

Her quick intake of air alerted both her son and her love of her presence that they both returned with a smile. 

"Good morning Ma, did you sleep well?" Henry asked as he finished pancake number two from his mom, "I told Mom you would probably be down soon and now that you are, I'm going back upstairs." 

Regina chuckled, placing a kiss to Henry's head before he kissed Emma on a tear stained cheek and headed upstairs. 

"You're here," Emma said shyly, praying she wasn't in a dream because if it was she would fall apart the moment Regina disappeared. 

"You are not dreaming Emma, although you did request my presence," Regina said with a smart, walking towards Emma with determination in her stride, "I'll leave if you are uncomfortable though." 

"No!" Emma said quickly grabbing Regina's hand and pulling her into herself, "please don't leave me again unless it is absolutely necessary or I will use the dagger to keep you here as a last resort." 

Regina chuckled into Emma's neck before pulling back to look into green eyes glistening with tears and overflowing with love. 

"Why did you take the darkness back? I could have handled it," Emma said, laying her head on Regina's chest. 

"I would hate myself if you turned your heart black and I could have prevented it in any capacity," Regina said softly As she ran her hands through Emma's hair. 

"It was my choice, I didn't want you to have to go back to that place," Emma said, looking into Regina's eyes. 

Regina smiled brightly at Emma before caressing her cheek. 

"The difference this time is I know love and I know I have love," Regina replied wrapping her arms around Emma's neck, 'if I hadn't heard your "Charming" sentiment before I disappeared, we may be in trouble." 

Emma laughed as she stood up and wrapped her arms around Regina's waist. 

"I love you Regina Mills and I'm sorry it took me so long to tell you," Emma said before kissing Regina with passion. 

The light that burst from their lips didn't surprise them, nor did the screams of excitement from their son, but the sudden pair of black wings that popped out of Regina's back definitely did. 

"What. The. Hell." Emma said leaning back to admire the black wings, "those are beautiful but will that happen every time we kiss?" 

Regina gaped at Emma before bursting into laughter, causing Henry to run to the kitchen to find out what was going on. "Holy shit! Mom has wings," Henry exclaimed running to touch and marvel the wings up close. 

"Henry Daniel Mills, watch your language!" Regina said sternly but sporting a smirk at how excited he was about this new edition. 

"Sorry Mom, I also saw the light so I couldn't really keep my excitement contained with the wings. So why are you so the dark one?" Henry asked, leaning on the counter next to Emma. 

"The darkness is comfortable, even with my light magic and now my true love," Regina said blushing at the fact that she had indeed found her true love and it was the sweetest most fulfilling love she had ever felt next to the love she shared with Henry on a mother-son level, "I think to break the curse of the Dark One I have to have a vessel strong enough to put the darkness into." 

"Maybe Belle can help, she would know if anyone does," Henry replied, shrugging his shoulders, "so what is the plan for the day?" 

Emma looked at Regina, hoping the day included them spending time together. 

"Well I need to talk to Robin and Emma needs to talk to hook," Regina said, lifting Emma's chin to look her in her eyes, "then we can meet at your grandparents and tackle telling them... everything. We can end the night here, I'll make risotto and homemade garlic bread, with an apple pie for dessert." 

"The beginning to your plan sucks, although it is necessary, but the end is perfect," Emma said while eating fruit Regina had chopped up for her, "if my parents give us problems, I'm disowning them." 

Henry left the house about an hour later to meet his friends at the arcade while Emma and Regina prepared to handle their pre-existing relationships. 

"If you need me and you get stuck in a situation where you can't call or get away, just call for me mentally because I can hear you. Not all of your thoughts either before you freak out, only when you call for me mentally," Regina told Emma as they made their way to the front door.

"Well that is comforting to know and it explains how you knew to show up this morning," Emma said with a smirk as a blush crept up Regina's neck, "let's get this over with, I'm looking forward to the end of our night." 

"So am I sweetheart, so don't take your time with the pirate," Regina chuckled as they exited the mansion and shared a kiss before going their separate ways.

Regina arrived at the Merry Men's camp in a cloud of purple smoke. Little John and Robin were sitting by the fire and jumped up to defend against the Intruder. 

When Robin saw it was Regina, he ran to her as if she had died the night before. 

"Regina! Oh my God are you okay?" Robin said is he checked for visible injuries, "I felt so helpless last night when the darkness surrounded you." 

Regina grimaced in the embrace, pulling away before Robin could kiss her. 

"Robin, we need to have a discussion and I don't have a lot of time so let me just speak and then you can have your say," Regina said, straightening her posture to regain her power in the situation. 

"You're scaring me mi lady but I understand. Please go ahead," Robin said, leaning against the tree with his arms across his chest. 

"In the past, when Tinkerbell said you were my soulmate I was a different person than I am today. I have learned a lot about myself and what I want for my future but a romantic relationship between us isn't in the cards," Regina said, chasing a glance at Robin who wore an expression between being hurt and being unreasonably angry, "I need love that consumes every fiber of my being, I love that can withstand me being the dark one, or the evil queen, or even just Regina. You are a good man Robin but you love the good in me, you don't love the darkness which means you can't truly love me. I have someone that can love me the way I want and damn well deserve at this point. I would so like to be friends though." Regina finished and took a step forward to show Robin she wanted no hard feelings. 

"Stop," Robin said quickly, putting a hand up, "first, I'm hurt that you don't want to be with me anymore, we are soulmates or so I thought. Second, what the hell do you mean you found someone who can love you the way you deserve?" 

"Control your anger and remember who you once were. Everyone deserves redemption Thief," Regina spat, "also remember who you are talking to and remember you have a son, and wife, might I add that you would like to stay alive for. Look, I love Emma and she loves me, this morning we shared true love's kiss and although we are not together, you needed to know that we never will be again. Now, I'm leaving and although I understand your anger I warn you to make rational decisions because if you even look at Emma with malice, I will kill you. 

Ever the bad bitch, Regina walked away with her head held high, deciding to walk by the docks since she hadn't heard from him yet. 

Emma, for her part, was standing on the deck of Hook's ship, watching him pace and rant but wasn't actually listening. Her mind was in a pleasant day dream involving Regina and she was getting the best kisses when Killian interrupted. 

"Swan! Are you listening to a word I'm saying?" Killian shouted, making Emma huff and irritation so she decided she needed to end this before it got worse. 

"Honestly, no Killian I wasn't," Emma said, Crossing her arms and standing straighter, "obviously you don't understand that when I said I'm breaking up with you it did not mean I needed a list of reasons why I shouldn't break up with you. You may be a pirate but you are not ignorant Killian so why can't you let go?" 

"Because I know why you were doing this!" Killian yelled as he stepped toward Emma, "you don't think anyone with eyes can see how you pine over and recklessly follow the evil queen like a lovesick puppy." 

"Excuse me?" Emma said, stepping closer to Killian and clenching her fists, "first of all, screw you Killian! How dare you say that when you traveled realms to find the man whose wife you were sleeping with to kill him and never did. Oh and for your information, Regina and I shared true love's kiss so I guess all that pining from a distance and failed attempts to love you paid off generously." 

Emma predicted Hook's next move with that low blow and instinctively called to Regina in her mind as she knew she was too emotional to use her magic. 

"Hello pirate," Regina called from behind hook, appearing right before he entered Emma's personal space with a closed fist, "if you would like to live, step away from my girlfriend." 

"You!" Hook spat as he turned and stormed towards Regina, "you did this you evil witch. You have to ruin everyone's happiness!" 

Regina's hand shot out in front of her freezing hook in his tracks. 

"Please do shut up, your whining irritates me unlike anything else," Regina said walking around hook to Emma, "are you okay sweetheart? Did he hurt you?" 

"No, but he was going to try and I knew I wouldn't be able to control my magic with my anger," Emma said, smiling at the concern she saw and Regina's eyes, "his ego is bruised and he doesn't like the truth." 

Regina smiled and placed a hand on his cheek before turning and walking back around to face hook. 

"I'm going to unfreeze only your face and give you 60 seconds to explain yourself," Regina spoke coldly as she waved her hand and hook began to Blink rapidly. 

"Wait...you don't look like the dark one, just plain old Regina, I'm confused," hook said. 

"Well let me quickly rectify that for you so there is no… confusion," Regina replied with a smirk. 

Both Emma and Hook's eyes went wide when Regina's royal purple smoke finally cleared. Regina stood in an all black fitted suit with black wings on prominent display. 

"Oh okay," hook stumbled out quickly, "well, I have a right to be pissed your majesty! Not only does my girlfriend not want to be with me anymore but she loves the evil queen of all people." 

"The dark queen now, if you want to be politically correct. None of that justifies you attempting to harm Emma. I should kill you but I'm not Rumple, I don't want the power of this curse and I know good. You should be grateful that she even came to tell you because she didn't have to. You should be with someone who wants to be with you," Regina stated not surprised at the unavoidable attempt of justification, "if you can get out of your feelings, act like an adult, and leave him alone you may stay in Storybrooke." 

"Fuck you and her you monster!" Hook spat in anger, "if she chooses you she deserves to die villain just like you if not worse." 

Emma laughed in the background as she saw the fire that lit Regina's eyes in that moment. 

"Oh boy, did you just screw yourself," Emma said, walking to stand behind Regina. 

"You will die in the unknown with your most prized possession then," Regina said as a portal, bright red, began to swirl and grow in the harbor, "you will never find Storybrooke again, and your memories will be wiped, and you will have nothing but a stupid ship. You are an insipid fool who should have died a long time ago. Goodbye Killian Jones." 

With that, Regina transported Emma and herself from the shop but not before forcing a forgetting potion down hook's throat and unanchoring the boat with magic. They watched the Jolly Roger be swallowed up by the portal and stood staring into the harbor until the waters calmed. 

"You have to teach me how to make portals, I could have stayed here, yelled we are breaking up, and sent him to another realm," Emma said still in shock. 

"You are adorable dear, but that is extremely complex and draining magic. I'm just glad you are okay and he is gone. Are you ready for your parents?" 

"With you, I'm ready for anything," Emma said with a smile, kissing Regina's cheek, "no matter what they can't change how I feel about you or the strength of our love." 

"I love you Emma and from here until the end of time I will face life smiling with you by my side," Regina said, knowing that Emma was going to be her wife in that moment. 

They teleported, or poofed to Emma, over to her parents house and walked in because of course nobody would enter the house of Snow White and Prince Charming to cause harm. When they entered, Snow and David were sitting on the couch watching TV and didn't even look up. 

"Hi sweetie," snow said sweetly, "Henry is out back playing with Neal. How are you holding up?" 

"I'm good Mom, how are you guys?" Emma said, hanging up her jacket by the door. 

"I guess I'm just chopped liver then," Regina said, gesturing to herself. 

"Regina!" Snow and David exclaimed at the same time, Snow running to hug her and start a family crying spell. 

"I didn't know what to expect after last night, I was so scared," snow spoke through her tears, "I, Regina, you don't understand how important you are to this family." 

"Oh Snow, I know and I love you all very much," Regina said, wiping tears from Snow's face, "we came by because we wanted to talk to you." 

"Is everything okay, besides the obvious?" David said, finally getting to hug Regina wants to know when to get tissues for everyone. 

"Yes, as far as we know everything is good," Emma said as she and Regina sat on the loveseat across from David and Snow, "did you guys happen to feel that magical pulse this morning?" 

"True love's kiss? Of course, we always know what that is, we figured we would hear about it at some point," snow said. 

"It was me," Emma said, nearly bursting into laughter when her parents faces met hers, "well it was me and Regina." 

The squeal of happiness that erupted from Snow was so loud that Neal and Henry came running into the house to see what happened. 

"Moms!" Henry said excitedly, did everything go okay?" 

"For the most part," Emma said ruffling Henry's hair with a smile, "let's all sit down so we can talk." 

As Emma and Regina recounted their morning, their family sat attentively with smiles adorning their faces until they got to Killian almost attacking Emma. 

"If he were still here, I'd kill him," David said between gritted teeth, "memories or not. Thank you for being there and defending her Regina." 

"I will always do that David no need to thank me," Regina said looking from David to Emma, "I would take on armies alone for your daughter." 

Emma blushed and intertwined her fingers with her girlfriend's. 

"I am so happy for the both of you," snow said beaming at the new couple. 

"When are you getting married to Gina then sis?" Neal asked Emma, who only opened and closed her mouth like a fish out of water. 

"Actually, thank you for bringing that up Neal," Regina said nervously, but hoping Emma didn't notice the slight tension she continued on, "I was thinking earlier about that exact subject and I wanted to know if that was something you even wanted to do." 

"Regina, I would spend forever with you no matter what, but I would absolutely love to be your wife when you are ready," Emma replied. 

"Okay," Regina said with a soft smile, silently conjuring the ring she mentally wanted for Emma when she proposed behind her back, "what if I am ready now?" 

Regina pulled the box from behind her back and opened it to reveal a 14 karat white gold engagement ring with three 1/2 carat diamonds on top. 

"Regina," Emma said breathlessly, tears flowing freely from her eyes as she smiled at the love of her life. "Emma, I will never take you or our love for granted. I want this, I want us, and I will want only you for the rest of my life. At first you scared me because I thought you would take Henry away from me, then it turned into you scaring me because I loved you so much and didn't want to lose you like I lost Daniel. I'm not afraid anymore Emma, you have brought me love, joy, trust, true happiness, and above all else Henry. Even your parents of grown on me despite how insufferable they can be. I want all of you Emma and everything that comes with that." 

Emma, who was full-on bawling at this point just rapidly shook her head before kissing Regina deeply. 

"A royal wedding!" Snow cried, "I am so overwhelmed with happiness."

"Me too Grandma," Henry replied as he walked over to bear hug his parents, "I'm going to be Henry Daniel Swan-Mills, son of the Savior and dark queen." 

"That's actually pretty badass kid," Emma chuckled, "I like Swan-Mills too, it has a ring to it." 

They spent another hour with the Charmings before heading home to enjoy their night as a family. 

While Regina began dinner, Henry and Emma debated on what movie to watch first.

"If we are going with Marvel, it has to be Iron Man Ma!" Henry said matter-of-factly, "Iron Man is Marvel honestly, without him the entire brand would have died."

"I agree completely kids, all I'm saying is if you want the universe storyline and not individual storylines, then we should start with the Avengers," Emma replied, proud her son had such logical reasoning even when it came to his movie choices.

They finally decided on The Avengers: Infinity War, which they agreed was equivalent to Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1, before Regina called them into the dining room to eat dinner.

"It smells delicious Regina," Emma said, mouth-watering at she hadn't eaten since breakfast.

"Thank you dear, "Regina said, "so I was thinking, maybe I have something in my vault that could hold the darkness or a book that might tell me how to create or conjure something that can."

"That sounds like a good plan, we can try to see if anything is there in the morning," Emma replied, moaning at the taste of the risotto on her first bite, "oh my God Regina, I've always loved your food but you can taste the love and happiness in this." 

"I agree Mom, this is amazing," Henry said shoveling food in his mouth just to make more room on his plate. 

Regina chuckled and thanked for two favorite people before eating her own food, which she had to agree deserved an award.

Conversation flowed pleasantly as they finished their dinner and double servings of dessert, Henry and Emma repeatedly praising Regina for every morsel of food they ate. The three then headed to the living room so they could watch the movie before bed. 

Henry had his set up on the floor, that he prepared before dinner, while Emma and Regina got comfortable laying on the couch above him. Once Regina was comfortable with her head on his chest, they started the movie. 

Right before Thanos uses the last Stone in the movie, and we'll look down to see Henry fast asleep. 

"We have the best kid Gina," Emma whispered, kissing Regina's Ttmple. 

"Yes we did, beautiful," Regina replied, "are you ready to go upstairs?" 

"Yeah, let's just poof him to his room," Emma said flicking her wrist to safely tuck Henry in his bedroom upstairs. 

They then made their way upstairs to what was now their bedroom and quickly got into bed. 

As they made love for the first time that night, purple and white rings of smoke surrounded the house. They were so caught up in each other that they did not notice a small covered vase appeared on the nightstand next to Regina's head. When Emma caught her breath, she turned on her side to look at Regina and caught sight of the vase. 

"What is that?" She asked knowing it has not been there before.

Regina looked over in confusion at her nightstand. 

"I am not sure but by the markings on it, it looks like just what we need to trap the darkness." 

"Well I for one I think that our true love might have had something to do with that appearing here," Emma smiled deeply, "I cannot think of any way that this day could possibly get better." 

"Well, the night is still young dear so let me show you how much I love you until you pass out from exhaustion." 

When they woke up the next morning, after having breakfast with Henry, they began to prepare for removing the darkness from Regina and putting it into the vase.

Regina had already called Belle and gotten a book that talked specifically about the vase in question and how to use it. Regina was working on a potion that she needed to take in order to ensure that she would be safe during the removal of the darkness. 

"Are you sure this is safe?" Emma said extremely worried that this might be the last time she would see her fiance. 

"I promise my love," Regina replied hugging Emma so that she could feel the promise she was making to her. 

After informing Henry of what was about to happen, they sent him to his grandparents just in case something went wrong. 

Once they had everything in place, Emma and Regina begin the ritual to remove the darkness. Flashes of light and screams could be heard from inside the house, but on the outside everything seemed calm and collected. 20 minutes later, Emma and Regina teleported to snow in David's house to pick up Henry. 

When they arrived, Henry was out front with David who was working on his truck, and when he saw his mom's he began to run at full speed towards them. 

"So did it work?" Henry asked, eagerly anticipating the best news. 

"It did," Regina said, "and it was not the most pleasant experience of my life." 

"Yeah let's not ever do that again," Emma chuckled, "I would much rather focus on planning our wedding."

"Speaking of your wedding," David said walking towards them, "your mother has about a hundred wedding books on the table waiting for the both of you to go through with her so be prepared." 

They both laughed because they knew that Snow would want to have full planning rights over their wedding, but it was okay as long as they were in it together.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [dark one regina has... wings](https://archiveofourown.org/works/26228884) by [DitchingNarnia](https://archiveofourown.org/users/DitchingNarnia/pseuds/DitchingNarnia)




End file.
